Board of Health could put freeze on ice-cream-truck curfew

LYNN — Public Health Director Lisa Tobin said that after several conversations with business owners and residents, she will advise the Board to rescind the order that would prohibit ice cream trucks from vending after 8 p.m. at its next meeting on Aug. 13, in a statement to T he Item.

“We remain committed to continuing discussions throughout the fall and winter with community members and these business owners about best practices and their operation in the neighborhoods throughout Lynn moving forward,” she said.

On July 16, a legal notice was issued in The Item that stated 30 days after printing, ice cream trucks in Lynn would not be able to vend after 8 p.m. from  Aug. 16 until Labor Day. This order is slightly stricter than a Massachusetts Law that restricts ice cream truck vending to no later than 10 p.m.

During the July 9 Board of Health meeting, Tobin advised the Board to pass the regulation due to noise complaints after sundown from several city councilors and residents.

Javier Serrano, owner of Cuckie’s Ice Cream truck said he would have appreciated having a community discussion before the Board of Health made its decision on July 9.

Serrano said he was never made aware of any noise complaints prior to the Board of Health’s decision and if he had been, he would have been happy to avoid particular neighborhoods or turn down the music.

“We don’t want to be known as the headache or the problem,” he said. “We just want to be known as the ice cream man.”

Serrano said the majority of his sales are made between 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. because this is when children and their families are finished with work and dinner and might be ready for a treat.

He said the ordnance would take place during the remaining two weeks of summer. “That’s two weeks I have to close at 8 p.m. and I’m going to lose money from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.,” he said. “That’s a lot of money.”

Serrano said he relies on the revenue from the sales of the truck to support himself and his family during the summer. Therefore, the reversal of the regulation is critical to him.

Serrano and other ice cream truck vendors met with Tobin on Tuesday at City Hall. He added he “greatly” appreciated Tobin’s willingness to meet, listen and to reconsider the regulation.

He said he has been working in the ice cream truck business since he was a little kid, and his father owns an ice cream truck in Lynn, Fun Time Ice Cream.

“We can work together with the complaints as they come in. We are willing to work with anybody,” he said. “You have my number on the truck – call me anytime. Anytime you have a complaint, call the number on the truck, I promise you.”

After the announcement of the Board of Health’s decision, residents showed their support for the ice cream trucks on social media.

The Social Media Manager for Cuckie’s Ice Cream, Giovanni Garcia said he posted on Facebook that the truck would be outside of High Rock Tower until 9:30 p.m, and the post attracted more than 20 people to the vendor past 9:45 p.m.

Garcia said he posted about the regulation on every Lynn Facebook community page that exists and received a lot of positive feedback in support of the ice cream truck businesses.

He said he felt he needed to bring the issue to social media because he thought the Board of Health had made a decision without small business owners in mind and without consulting the community first.

“Anything that’s going to affect the community should be brought to the community,” he said.

Lisa Pressman, founder of the group “Concerned Citizens of Lynn,” said she is glad to hear Tobin will be advising the Board to rescind the regulation moving forward as she had been in contact with more than 100 residents who expressed concern about the regulation.

“The health department should have had the ice cream truck owners come in and see if there was a compromise before making the decision,” she added.

Mayor Jared Nicholson said his office appreciates residents’ feedback on the impact ice cream trucks can have on the quality of life in the neighborhoods as well as on local businesses.

“Our office asked the Board of Health to reconsider how the goals behind this proposed change might be achieved through less restrictive intervention while ensuring that any local action we take is aligned with existing state regulations,” he said.

He added that his office appreciates that the health department is doing collaborative work with the community and that his office supports the recommendation to “reverse the action before it was scheduled to take effect next month.”

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